Advantages

Difficulties

GHGs are produced if trees and plants are flooded by the reservoir above the hydroelectric dam. As these flooded plants decompose, they generate carbon dioxide and possibly methane. Once this decomposition is complete, no more GHGs are produced.

All new development projects require additional high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines from generation stations in the north to demand areas in the south.

On September 25, 2007, Hydro announced that they would build a new HVDC line on the west side of the province. This route is an alternative to the shorter route on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Although the east side route would be more direct (and cheaper) it would have cut through an ecologically and culturally sensitive area. The new “BiPole III” line was completed in July 2018.

Our newest dam, Wuskwatim came online in 2012. It added 200 MW of new generating capacity. When its dam was closed and the reservoir filled, it caused 0.37 sq. km of flooding. This is smaller than the gross building area of “Mall of America” in Minneapolis.

So, even though Manitobans’ electricity comes from hydro, reducing our demand reduces fossil fuel burning by making more power available for Hydro to export to areas that would others contribute high amounts of energy-related GHGs.